Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson recently opened up about the direction of her highly anticipated album. Speaking with Fashion Rocks magazine, the ‘Dreamgirls’ star had the following to say:

“It’s not hip-hop,” she says firmly. “Let’s just say that. I don’t have anything against it, but it’s not the music that I like to sing. There’s some pop in there, and some R&B-soul, but,” she pauses for emphasis, “not hip-hop.”

Not sure how to read into this one. The quote makes it seem like she has a problem with Hip Hop, but I just see it as her telling it like it is. Nothing she’s done prior to now has been Hip Hop influenced, so why would her album be?

Your thoughts?

Pussycat Doll front-woman Nicole Scherzinger is gearing up for the release of her first solo CD ‘Her Name Is Nicole’ – due October 16th. This new track, ‘Super Villain’ – produced by Mad Scientist, is slated to follow lead single ‘Whatever You Like’ as the next song to be released from the album. The more Pop-orientated track is ‘decent’ but that’s about it. Considering how much Nicole was pushed to the forefront of the Pussycat Dolls, her solo material, thus far, has been pretty disappointing. She’s gonna have to do better than this.

Hit or Miss?

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Check out the full length clip of Snoop Dogg’s appearance on the ‘Flava Flav Roast’ which aired on VH1 recently. I’m still laughing about this one – Snoop ripped into everybody on stage lol.

Your thoughts?

With an October 18th release set for ‘Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married’, the film’s preview has surfaced. As well as Perry himself, other major names featured in the film include Jill Scott and Janet Jackson.

Click here to watch the trailer

Judging by the trailer, the film looks like it’s gonna be good. Tyler usually delivers with his films/stage-productions and this looks like it’ll be no different.

Will you be seeing ‘When Did I Get Married’?

Bow Wow and Omarion stopped by MTV’s TRL in New York today to promote their forthcoming collabo album ‘Face Off’. Call me a hater or whatever, but I doubt the CD will be saying much. I felt their collabo on ‘Let Me Hold You’ to be pretty underwhelming. What’s more, neither have proved their worth as solo stars; with their recent albums just scrapping Gold status. I’m guessing this joint project is just a way of ensuring each of their fan-bases buy it – hence equalling larger sales overall.

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Will you be checking for ‘Face Off’?

As R. Kelly preps the release of the latest ‘Trapped In The Closet’ DVD (due August 21st) , chapter 13 of the ‘Hip Hopera’ has hit then net. Click here to watch it. If you need to refresh yourself with the story up to this point, you can watch the recap by clicking here.
LMAO at ‘Rosey The Nosey Neighbour’ and her husband, Randolph, cussing each other out – too funny. I’ll definitely be checking for the remaining chapters.

What do you think of Chapter 13?

Considering the fact that Pretty Ricky haven’t had a hit since ‘Your Body’, I’m kinda baffled as to why they’re still releasing singles. Anyway, ‘Love Like Honey’ is the third single to be lifted from the group’s current album ‘Late Night Special’. I watched the ‘Access Granted’ for the vid on BET last week (I’m still here in LA) and couldn’t stop laughing. Evidently, the guys don’t take themselves too seriously, hence why they can get away with an overly tacky video like this. On the plus side, the song isn’t bad at all.

What do you think of the video?

Melanie Brown, alongside her attorney Gloria Allred, appeared on the Larry King Live show this past week. In the interview, Scary Spice – as Brown is more commonly known – was grilled on her relationship with Eddie Murphy, her legal fight against the actor regarding their child Angel, as well as her motives behind meeting with Murphy’s ex-wife a couple of weeks back. Check out the interview:

Part One

Part Two

This whole situation just gets messier and messier. Mel came across pretty well, but she didn’t address claims that Eddie has already been making payments etc. I’m wondering if it’s a case of ‘a woman scorned’ or genuinely trying to make Eddie aware of his responsibility?

Your thoughts?

Singer Whitney Houston gave a surprise performance at the 2007 Sisters Conference with CeCe Winans. The pair performed their 1996 hit ‘Count On Me’ from the ‘Waiting To Exhale’ soundtrack. Though brief, it sounds like Whitney’s voice is back in great shape. I’m really waiting on that comeback album of hers. If the material is on-point (like the ‘My Love Is Your Love’ CD), then she may be onto a winner.

What do you think of the performance?

Since the release and subsequent poor performance of Kelly Rowland’s sophomore CD ‘Ms. Kelly’, there have been calls for a re-release to bolster sales. It now appears that a reworked version of the album may be in the pipeline afterall. Following a concert in Atlanta this past Friday (August 11th), the singer was quoted as saying she was on her way to the studio to record more tracks. Whilst it’s common-practice for artists to record inbetween projects etc, the comment is interesting when considering her manager Matthew Knowles’ new ‘multi-tiered’ (spread across time) approach to releasing records – first shown with Beyonce’s ‘B’Day’ project. For what it’s worth, producer Brian Michael-Cox (‘Bad Habit’, ‘Be Without You’ etc) was in attendance at the concert. {Source}
I’m all for a re-release; it’s not too late to right whatever wrongs were made with the handling of this project. ‘Ms. Kelly’ was a very solid effort and anything to rejuvenate the album is welcomed by me. I say she should hurry and put out a 2nd single -anything- and follow that up with something from the re-issued CD toward the end of the year.

What do you think of a possible ‘Ms. Kelly’ re-release?
In a recent interview with Chicago’s Power 92 radio station, former B2K star Lil Fizz spoke on life after the group and his forthcoming solo project. During the interview, Fizz was asked flat out whether former band member Raz B was gay. Evidently taken aback by the bluntness of the question, Fizz replied ‘I don’t think it’s my place to answer that question’. Click here to listen to the audio
I doubt this will come as a surprise to many. With reported sightings of Raz at numerous ‘guy’ clubs and an appearance on ‘Noah’s Arc’ (a black gay drama), rumors about his sexuality have been circulating for months. Though I doubt Fizz did it deliberately (the B2K guys are apparently cool with each other now), it’s kind of ironic that the confirmation(ish) came from him.

Your thoughts?
Rumors of R&B star Monica being pregnant have been circulating for a while, however the news has been confirmed via one of our affiliates, Sandra Rose. The ‘Don’t Take It Personal’ singer is reportedly 5 months pregnant with her second child. The father is believed to be Rodney ‘Rock’ Hill Jr – her long-time partner and father to her 2 year old son Lil Rock.
Though I congratulate Monica on the news, is it a bit selfish to question the timing? Having liked her last album ‘The Makings of Me’ and seeing it tank, I was hoping for some new material from her soon. I’m good to wait though. One small tidbit: when is Rock gonna put a ring on her finger and make it official? I mean, they’ve been together so long and are popping out these babies. Marriage isn’t for everyone, I know that, but come on now…

Your thoughts?
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